COLOMBIA

USAA: Colombia – Country focus, December 2022. Available at [EN]

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) publishes its first report on the situation in Colombia. The report covers the period between 2021 and the first months of the government of Gustavo Petro. It provides up-to-date information that helps decision makers to assess international protection applications submitted by Colombian nationals. The report focuses extensively on the impact of the post-FARC security landscape on the civilian population and the individual profiles that could be eligible for international protection.

INSIGHT CRIME: Game Changers 2022: Will ‘Total Peace’ be able to disarm criminal groups in Colombia?, December 2022. Available at [ES]

One of the commitments after the inauguration of Gustavo Petro was to work for a “Total Peace” with all the criminal and armed groups that operate in Colombia. This report offers up-to-date information on the status of the negotiations with the different organizations, as well as the challenges facing the Government of Bogotá.

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

ACAPS: Impact of inter-community violence and displacement in Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-Ndombe provinces, December 2022. Available at [EN]

In November 2022, UNHCR updated its position of no return for the northwestern part of the country. However, humanitarian organizations such as ACAPS warn of conflicts in other areas of the country, in this case, the impact of intercommunal violence and forced displacement in the provinces of Kwango, Kwilu, and Mai-Ndombe in the west of the country.

THE SAVIOR

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: “We can arrest whoever we want.” Widespread human rights violations during the “exception regime” in El Salvador, December 2022. Available at [ES]

This report indicates that, since the decree of the emergency regime to fight organized crime in March 2022, currently in force, there have been widespread human rights violations committed at the hands of the security forces. These abuses, says HRW, include arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment in prison, as well as serious violations of due process.

HAITI

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Haiti’s last resort: gangs and the prospect of foreign intervention, December 2022. Available at [ES]

As this organization’s analysis indicates, criminal gangs are wreaking havoc in Haiti, leading public opinion to accept the idea of ​​an international force that would help restore security. Violent gangs have seized the opportunity presented by Haiti’s protracted political crisis to seize control of much of the country, crippling its economy. Faced with a resurgence in cholera, the Haitian government has asked the UN and its foreign partners to deploy a public security force to push back the gangs.

HONDURAS

ACCORD: Gang violence, criminality and human rights violations against specific groups, December 2022. Available at [EN]

According to this report, Honduras continues to be the Central American country with the highest homicide rate, partly caused by the actions of gangs, such as the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, among others. This document analyzes the main criminal groups that operate in the country, their methods of social control such as extortion and homicides, the response of the authorities, as well as the situation of specific groups such as women, youth, boys and girls, LGTBIQ+ people, and returnees. .

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP)